Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
Both the compressor and turbine sections may include alternating series of rotating blades and stationary vanes that extend into the core flow path of the gas turbine engine. For example, in the turbine section, turbine blades rotate and extract energy from the hot combustion gases that are communicated along the core flow path of the gas turbine engine. The turbine vanes, which generally do not rotate, guide the airflow and prepare it for the next set of blades.
Stationary vanes, and in particular those located in the turbine section, are cooled to increase performance and service life. One known cooling technique includes providing an internal cooling passageway circulating within the interior of the vane. The cooling passageway includes trip strips formed on the inner surface of an airfoil wall of the vane. In another known technique, known as impingement cooling, a baffle is provided in an internal cavity of the vane. The baffle includes a plurality of orifices for directing a flow of cooling air toward the inner surface of the airfoil wall of the vane.